Developing the Prodigy at Ford New product development is sometimes undertaken in response to government directives. In 1993 the US government directed U.S. automakers to dramatically improve the fuel efficiency at their vehicles during the next decade. By 2000 Ford Motor Co. had built a test car, the Prodigy, with the space and convinience of a Taurus sedan that gets more than 70 miles per gallon (mpg) thankss to a long list high-tech improvements. The prodigy was developed under the partnership for a new Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) a joint effort by automakers and the federal government to design and build a prototype five-passanger car that gets 80 mpg by 2004 without compromising passenger needs. The U.S. government and university laboratories . Ford estimated that it, along with General Motor and DeimerChrysler, spent $980 million that year on their variuos PNGV projects. To achieve 60 mgp with the Prodigy, Ford developed a small turbocharged diesel engine and an electric motor with a battery pack in the trunk of its early prototype. To achieve 70 mgp , Fords engineers designed a slippery new exterior that uses video cameras in place of rearview mirrors, a smooth underbody, special wheel covers, and vents in the front grille that open only when engine needs extra air. The Prodigy is built mostly of aluminum, with some magnesium and titanium components, weighing in at 2,387 pounds - about a thousand pounds less than other mid-size sedans. Although the objective of 80 mpg has yet to be achieved, Ford continues to refine the Prodigys design and is confident that it is closing in on the governments goal.

Required

a. Discuss the factors that cause U.S government to direct automakers to redesign product and services?

b. Explain the advantages and disadvntages of standardization some Ford Products

c. Discsss the factors could be make service much different from product design in the Motor vehicle industry